Idle: Ambient Desk Clock

Your tablet spends most of its life on a stand, plugged in, showing nothing.

Idle turns that idle screen into something worth looking at — a clock you chose, on a scene that moves.

Plug in, set it down, walk away.


SCENES, DRAWN IN REAL TIME

Not a folder of wallpapers. Every scene is generated frame by frame, so it never repeats and never pixelates.

• Midnight — layered starfields, a Milky Way band, the occasional meteor. Tilt the iPad and the stars shift. Touch it and it ripples.
• Aurora — folding curtains of polar light over a hazy horizon
• Ocean — a moon above a shimmering path across dark water
• Hearth — flame tongues over a glowing bed of logs
• Rain, Beach, Garden, Snow, Tide, Bloom, Mesh, Onyx


SEVEN CLOCK FACES

Minimal, Stack, Pill, split-flap Flip, OLED bar, Analog, and Halo. Choose the typeface, the size, the colour, and which of five layouts puts it where you want it.


YOUR OWN PHOTOS

Use anything from your photo library as a background, or paste a direct image link. Photos you add stay on your iPad.


GLANCEABLE, NOT CLUTTERED

Add the date, battery, a world clock, or a rotating quote. Drag them into the order you like — or turn them all off and keep just the clock.


IT KNOWS WHEN TO DISAPPEAR

Idle dims itself through the evening and lifts again in the morning, so a bedside iPad never lights up the room at 3am. It keeps the screen awake only while charging, so it will not quietly drain your battery.


AMBIENT SOUND

Looping rain, ocean, and fireplace. On when you want it, silent when you don't.


NO BUTTONS ON SCREEN

Swipe sideways for a different clock. Swipe up or down for a different scene. Hold anywhere to open everything. Nothing sits between you and the display.


OPENS BY ITSELF

Idle adds a Shortcuts action, so you can build a one-step automation: when the charger connects, open Idle. The app walks you through it.


COMPLETELY FREE

Every scene, every clock face, every layout, your own photos, and ambient sound are all included. No ads. No subscription. No in-app purchases. No account. Nothing held back.


PRIVATE BY DEFAULT

No accounts, no analytics, no servers. Your settings and any photos you add stay on your iPad. Nothing is collected, because there is nothing to collect.


Requires iPadOS 26 or later. Designed for iPad only.